Twenty Years Ago Today

This week, America has seen a lot of tragedy. Thirteen servicemen and women were killed and more than 30 other wounded at Fort Hood Army Post. Worst of all, it was a member of the military who was responsible for the shootings. Was this a soldier suffering from the PSD? No. He was a Muslim, and unfortunately he aligned himself with the extremists. He had even attempted to contact Al-Qaeda. The war, it seems, has been brought back onto American soil.

The very next day, someone who had been let go by his company for poor performance in Orlando, Florida, shot people in his office building killing one person and injuring others. In light of what happened to my brother-in-law just two short months ago, news like this is almost unbearable. The world seems like such a dark and scary place sometimes.

But today have reason to celebrate. Today marks 20 years to the day when the Berlin wall came down. I remember watching it on television. Streams of people were crossing the once forbidden border--the barrier between East and West, between liberty and tyranny--ecstatic at their new taste of freedom. A journey that once cost people their lives was now being taken peacefully by thousands. As I watched that historic event, I knew that someday I too would visit that wall and cross that border.

Freedom and liberty are a gift--one that should not be taken for granted. I hope as we commemorate this day where freedom prevailed, that we will ponder our own freedom and the responsibility we have to preserve it. I am grateful those who have sacrificed their time or who have given their lives in defending the cause of freedom.

I am proud that it was an American President who called upon Mr. Gorbachev to "tear down this wall."